


Outlaw

by obnoxiousandannoying



Category: Nevermoor Series - Jessica Townsend
Genre: Hollowpox, Hurt No Comfort, Nevermoor, Wundersmith - Freeform, this shit gonna hurt, watch out i totally didnt cry while writing this ahah :D
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:53:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27366871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obnoxiousandannoying/pseuds/obnoxiousandannoying
Summary: ~WARNING: HOLLOWPOX SPOILERS AHEAD! there's mention of locations and lore that are spoilery, so please read hollowpox before you read this.~This is a fic based off an outlaw au i had for morrigan, based off the canon lore and characters we have at the moment.I did in fact cry while writing this and there are dangerous amounts of Hurt with no Comfort here, so ahah :DThis probably won't be very long, and I'll add parts as I write them. :)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 23





	1. Part One

**_Autumn of Seven, Third Age of Aristocrats_ **

Eight senior scholars trudged down the main road of Old Town in the mild, dimming twilight; although the cloud that had covered the sky since dawn made it hard to tell. Their heads hung as low as the fog in the streets, their footsteps loud in their ears. Nobody spoke a word and the atmosphere was heavy and tense.

The order has been given that afternoon.

“With the entire state under lockdown, we are now free to scour the streets, herd from the hills and comb every nook and cranny of Nevermoor, for we have been lenient with her for too long- the Wundersmith Morrigan Crow!” Elder Quinn’s voice had rung out across the Gathering place, with answering shouts and growls. Over the din, a boy shouted.

“Elder Quinn, we made an oath- we gave our word! Sisters and brothers!” Mahir Ibrahim’s anguished voice carried over the raucous tones. Elder Quinn fixed him with a blazing look from across the room.

“But didn’t she, also, Ibrahim? Didn’t she say she would be loyal to you? To your unit, to the Wundrous Society- to _Nevermoor_?” She was shouting. “The Wundersmith broke her promise, she is no longer your sister- this is the last time one of her kind will betray us. From now on, Wundersmiths will deemed hostile and dangerous to all and every person of Nevermoor- Crow’s actions have done nothing but confirmed to us that people like her CANNOT BE TRUSTED!” There was another roar of agreement- from all but one patch in the crowd.

The left over members of Unit 919 sat in stony silence- Hawthorne Swift, staring at the head in front of him, but not seeing. Cadence Blackburn, her face blank, looking determinedly at the Elders on the podium. Anah Kahlo, her head in her hands, face hidden from view since the beginning of the meeting. Archan Tate, all light and energy gone from his demeanor. Thaddea Macleod, her chest heaving as if she would burst at any second. Francis Fitzwilliam, hugging his sides, not daring to open his eyes. Lambeth Amara, trembling from head to toe in her seat, and Mahir Ibrahim, sitting up as straight as a ruler, staring hopelessly at the Elders.

Elder Quinn raised her voice once more. “So, trusted Wuns: go forth from the grounds and retrieve the Wundersmith by ANY MEANS NECESSARY.” There was a stampede in the aisles as the Gathering Place emptied, everyone rushing to the doors. The broken 919 sat as still as stones for couple moments, until Thaddea stood up abruptly and walked robotically to the door, Anah finally peeking through her fingers and letting out a small whimper. Cadence and Arch followed momentarily, then Francis and Anah, leaving Hawthorne, Mahir and Lam in silence.

“C’mon,” Mahir said almost unintelligibly and stood up, Lam following suit awkwardly.

“It’s going to be okay, Hawthorne,” she said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. He continued to stare.

“I don’t understand,” he said eventually, his voice breaking. Lam pursed her lips and squeezed his arm before following Mahir out of the room.

_Where had it all gone so horribly wrong?_


	2. Part Two

The sound of Cadence’s own footsteps were making her feel sick. What was she doing? What were they all doing? What was going to happen when they found Morrigan, and why, all of a sudden, was she so sure she would be found at all, let alone by them? There were thousands of Wundrous Society members out at that very moment, all over Nevermoor hunting Morrigan, too.

With each cobblestone they trod over, the more the sense of unease and guilt grew within the group. The first to break the tense silence was, unpredictably, Francis.

“I suppose we should… split up? C-cover more ground that way.” He said shakily, looking as if he wished he hadn’t said anything at all. If anybody agreed or disagreed with this proposal, it was hard to tell, as everyone mutely broke off down the side streets in varying numbers.

Cadence hurried down the closest alley before anyone could follow her- she wasn’t in much of a mood for company. She didn’t make it very far, however, before feeling her breath catch in her lungs- taken by surprise, she tried taking deeper and deeper breaths, but her throat seemed to get all the more constricted with every breath. She stumbled backwards clutching her chest, and fell to the ground, feeling the air return to her lungs all at once. Gasping for breath, she turned on the spot to see if anyone could have helped her, but her unit had already dispersed. Looking back up at the alley she had just gone down and saw a sign pinned to the entrance:

**DEVILISH COURT**

Something in her stomach dropped. Devilish Court. Even with all the horrible memories attached with the place, Cadence felt a twinge of _something_ at the thought that she and Morrigan has been there together, so long ago… back then, the Ghastly Market seemed like the most terrifying thing in the world, and honestly, her opinion still stood- but she couldn’t imagine how she would have reacted if she knew just how bad things would get in a matter of years.

Suddenly, there was a _whoosh_ and she scrambled to her feet, her eyes darting around. “H- hello?” she croaked. She cleared her throat and tried to speak more clearly, trying to shove her nerves down. “Who’s there?”

She looked down and saw something was coming out of the lane; silently creeping and low to the ground. Cadence backed away, fear gripping her chest- had the trick changed since she’d last been there? That wouldn’t be out of character for a Tricksy Lane, but then again, it did still have the suffocation one- was it doubling up? Was that even possible?

The shape inched closer, and Cadence could now see it was a shadow, smoky and dark. She froze. A shadow? There was another _whoosh_ from somewhere above her head- Cadence looked up and almost fell over again.

There, sitting on the edge of a roof; one leg propped up and the other dangling over the edge lazily, was Morrigan, surrounded by the darkness of her own making. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity- Cadence wanted to try and take in as much as she could of this seemingly new Morrigan, but she couldn’t take her eyes away from the Wundersmith’s. Her expression was unreadable. Cadence tried to speak, but couldn’t.

“I-”

No words passed between them, but it seemed their eyes were doing the talking. Cadence was shocked to find tears springing into her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a small gasp from the middle of the street. She turned around to see Lam, also looking up at their one missing unit member, a hand over her mouth.

“What?”

Cadence could hear Hawthorne’s desperate voice coming from further down the road. He came up from behind Lam, standing in front of her and grabbing her by the shoulders. “What did you see?” The oracle continued to stare at the figure on the rooftop. Hawthorne followed her gaze and his mouth dropped open when he, too, saw his friend sitting there.

The rest of the unit had seemingly heard the disturbance and were soon all standing at the mouth of the alley, staring at Morrigan with varying levels of emotion. Cadence finally found her voice, and shouted up at her,

“ _Why?_ ”

Morrigan continued to stare.

“Why did you leave us? Your _family?_ ” Cadence’s lip trembled. “S-SAY SOMETHING!”

Tears began to spill down her cheeks and she cupped her face in her hands.

Morrigan peered at each of them again in turn. “You saw what they did,” Hawthorne thought her voice was lower than he remembered. “You saw, and you still stayed. You sat by and let them continue with their so-called ‘ _vital work_ ’. The vital work that got Jupiter KILLED.” Her voice rose and she threw her arms back, causing the shadows that had begun to curl around her shoulders and torso to balloon upwards, high above the rooftops; then back down to carry her gently, but swiftly, to the ground.

The unit jumped back in fright, all except Hawthorne, who took a step forward. Morrigan moved her gaze to him, her chest still heaving; but her expression changed as soon as she saw his face. She was alarmed at how sick he looked- had her absence really taken that much of a toll on him?

They looked at each other for some time, before Hawthorne said, in a voice quieter than Morrigan thought was possible for him;

“I miss you.”

Even through her anger, a brief flicker of vulnerability peeked past her steadfast demeanor. Before she even knew they were welling, a tear slipped down her cheek.

“Me too.”

Hawthorne’s feet shifted and he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m… not sure how much of what they’re saying is true,” He sniffed. “But none of it sounds like the Morrigan I know. If I took your name out of everything they’re saying about you, you’d think they were talking about Squall.”

This comment put Morrigan more on edge than she thought it would- she knew the rumours were bad, but by the sound of it, they were worse than she imagined. She scoffed, regardless.

“Sounds about right. Wunsoc _has_ had a habit of taking whatever side was safer for them in the past,”

The corner of Hawthorne’s mouth twitched. “You do know how evil you sound right now, don’t you?” he said, making Morrigan smile for the first time in weeks. It hadn’t been that long, but she’d almost forgotten what it was like to be around people; around _friends_ \- although she wasn’t really sure what they were anymore.

“Borough by borough?” Arch croaked, taking a shaky step forward. “Is that still the plan?”

Morrigan smiled at his hopeful face and sniffed. “You know it,” he gave her a small smile in return.

“I finally started to trust you, you know.” Thaddea said loudly, unable to hide the shake in her voice. “I finally began to think, _oh_ , maybe she _isn’t_ as dangerous as my family told me- maybe she’s _different_. But after all this… I mean, I’ve been right since the beginning, haven’t I? You’re just like the others- like Squall.” Anah, visibly shaking from her knees to her fingers, gripped Thaddea’s arm and whispered something inaudible but frantic in her ear.

There it was- Squall again. Thaddea had always been one of the more spiteful members towards Morrigan’s Wundersmith affinity, but it still stung to hear her voice it aloud, even- nay, _especially_ after all they’d been through, and after so long. Morrigan was about to shout something in retaliation, but Lam had pushed her way to the front of the group and said in a concerned but determined voice,

“Morrigan- I think we all need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> phewwie this chapter was a lot, and oh BOY is it angst season. tears all around folks.  
> thanks for reading :)


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